Strauss-Kahn to settle with accuser

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a hotel maid who accused him of trying to rape her have reached an agreement to settle her lawsuit, likely ending a legal saga that forced the one-time French presidential contender's resignation and opened a floodgate of accusations against him, a source said.

Details of the deal, which comes after prosecutors dropped related criminal charges last year, were not immediately known and likely will be veiled by a confidentiality agreement.

That could prevent the two from speaking publicly about a May 2011 encounter that she called a brutally sudden attack and he termed a consensual "moral failing".

Lawyers for Mr Strauss-Kahn and the housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, made the as-yet-unsigned agreement within recent days, with Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon facilitating that and a separate agreement to end another lawsuit Ms Diallo filed against the New York Post, said the person.

A court date is expected next week, though the day was not set, the source said.

She told police he chased her, tried to pull down her underwear and forced her to perform oral sex.

The allegation seemed to let loose a spiral of accusations about the sexual conduct of Mr Strauss-Kahn, a married diplomat and economist who had long been dubbed the "great seducer". He now faces charges linking him to a suspected prostitution ring in his home country.

With DNA evidence showing a sexual encounter and Ms Diallo providing a gripping description of an attack, the Manhattan district attorney's office initially said it had a strong and compelling case.

But within six weeks, prosecutors' confidence began to ebb as they said Ms Diallo had lied about her past - including a false account of a previous rape - and her actions after leaving Mr Strauss-Kahn's room.